› added 3 years ago

125

TIL the Turkmenistan "Door to Hell" is a large crater in the Karakum desert, created by the collapse of a natural gas field. Engineers attempted to burn off the gas for the protection of local villagers, but instead, it has filled the cavern with flame for 50 years, with no end for the near future.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

MP5m TIL that a snail spent years glued to a card in the British museum before they realized it was alive
VMdX4 TIL killer whales use a hunting technique known as a "karate chop" against sharks. Using its tail it pushes the shark to the surface on a vortex, then raises its tail high in the air and slams it on the shark’s head. Then it flips the shark over causing tonic immobility, rendering it paralyzed.
kYb1 TIL an American pizza delivery man was killed when a bomb fastened around his neck exploded. At the time of his death he had been arrested for robbing a bank. He told police that three people had locked the bomb around his neck and would not release it had he refused to commit the robbery
l7BPN TIL that actor Nicolas Cage's stage name was inspired in part by the Marvel Superhero "Luke Cage". He decided to change it when people would keep quoting films of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola to him.
vPZYD TIL that the cookiecutter shark is named because it gouges out round plugs of flesh from its prey, as if they had been attacked with a cookie cutter. The plugs average 5 cm (2 in) across and 7 cm (2.8 in) deep, and virtually all medium-to-large size animals sharing their habitat are open to attack.